Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Sentencing Council on the use of community sentences (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East.

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales is a non-departmental body, established by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing. The primary role of the Council is to issue guidelines on sentencing, which the Courts must follow, unless it is in the interests of justice not to.

The Council’s ‘Imposition of Community and Custodial Sentences’ guideline sets out the guidance that sentencers must follow when imposing community orders and custodial sentences, including deciding whether a custodial sentence can be suspended. It provides more detail as to the sorts of community requirements available under community orders and suspended sentence orders. This overarching guideline applies across England and Wales – the Council does not produce guidelines that are specific to a geographic location. The guideline can be found online at the Council’s website: https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/imposition-of-community-and-custodial-sentences/.